About A Dozen iOS 11 Features Borrowed From Jailbreak Tweaks

iPhone users who have jailbroken their devices are able to enjoy features and tweaks that others can’t. The jailbreak tweaks allow you to do things on your device that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do. Apple has been borrowing exciting features from the jailbreak community for years. So, the community was not surprised at all when many iOS 11 features seemed familiar to them.

Image Source: Apple.com (screenshot)

These iOS 11 features were already available via Cydia store

When Apple unveiled iOS 11 at WWDC, augmented reality, peer-to-peer payments, and a smarter Siri attracted much of the limelight. The iOS 11 has many features inspired by jailbreak tweaks that have been around for a long time. Here’s a list of all the iOS 11 features that were borrowed from the jailbreak community:

1- Moving multiple icons simultaneously on Home screen

Currently, the iPhone users can move only one app icon at a time from one page to another. With iOS 11, Apple will finally allow users to move multiple app icons on the Home screen simultaneously. Jailbreak users have for a long time been using tweaks like MultiIconMover and MultiActions to move multiple app icons on their iDevices.

2- Customizable Control Center

The Control Center has received a major revamp with the iOS 11. Apple also allows users to customize how it looks and operates. You no longer need to be stuck to the same Control Center that Apple served you. You can now add or remove controls, or rearrange them to your liking. It may be a new feature to you, but the jailbreak community has been enjoying it for years using tweaks such as CChide, Onizuka, FlipControlCenter and Polus.

3- Display recorder

Apple’s latest mobile operating system let you record the phone’s display by simply tapping a button in the Control Center. You may need to record your iPhone’s screen for a variety of purposes. Apple later added a similar feature to macOS’s QuickTime app, but it wasn’t a convenient method and it required a Mac to capture videos of your iPhone’s screen.

The feature was borrowed directly from popular jailbreak tweaks like CCRecord and Display Recorder.

4- Smart Invert dark mode

One of the new iOS 11 features is the Smart Invert system-wide dark mode. It eases the strain on your eyes when using the phone in the dark. The feature is almost identical to tweaks like Noctis and Eclipse. There is so much similarity between Smart Invert and Noctis that Noctis developer doesn’t plan to update their tweak for iOS 11 even if a jailbreak for the OS appears later this year.

5- More app icons in iPad dock

The iOS 11 allows users to add more icons to their iPad dock. It is similar to a jailbreak tweak called Harbor that offers a macOS-inspired dock for iOS so that iPad users can add more icons to the dock. It also works with the iPhone.

6- One-handed keyboard

People using larger phones like iPhone 7 Plus have trouble typing one-handed. If they try one-handed typing, they risk dropping the handset. Users with smaller hands face the same problem even with the 4.7-inch iPhone 7. The iOS 11 brings a new one-handed keyboard, which is similar to tweaks like OneHanded and OneHandWizard.

The 4-inch display was most suitable for one-handed typing. Apple took into consideration the 4-inch display to design the one-handed keyboard. When active, it shifts the keys a little closer to each other, and moves them to the left or right of the screen.

7- Files app

The iOS 11 brings a new app called Files that is basically a file manager app. Of course, it is inspired by tweaks such as iFile and Filza. However, the Files app is nowhere as good as the jailbreak tweaks. The tweaks even offer access to the system files and provide more features.

8- QR codes

It’s surprising that the iPhones have been around for about ten years, but iOS still lacks the ability to scan QR codes. Users had to rely on third-party apps to scan QR codes. The iOS 11 finally brings QR code scanning to iPhones and iPads. It is built into the stock Camera app. Long before iOS 11, a tweak called NativeQR enabled the feature to the stock Camera app.

9- Animated GIFs in the Photos app

The Photos app in iOS 11 features native support for animated GIFs. Until now, the GIFs appeared as still images in the Photos app. A jailbreak tweak called GIFViewer brought this feature to iPhones and iPads long ago.

10- Cellular data toggle in Control Center

A jailbreak tweak called CCDataMore allows iPhone users to turn mobile data on or off via Control Center. The iOS 11 has added a native cellular data toggle in the Control Center to control mobile data. You no longer have to go to the Settings app or turn on Airplane Mode to switch off mobile data.

11- Translating languages using Siri

Apple’s voice assistant received a major overhaul with the iOS 11. Among other things, it will now be able to translate from English to German, French, Chinese, Italian, and Spanish. This should be a major relief to international travelers. Before iOS 11, jailbreak tweaks such as Lingual allowed Siri to translate words from one language to another.

12- Low Power Mode toggle in Control Center

Previously, if you needed to conserve power, you had to go deep into the Settings app to enable the Low Power Mode. Apple has added the feature to the Control Center in iOS 11, making it incredibly easy to turn on the feature. This is similar to a jailbreak tweak called CCLowPower.